Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king

Chapter 151: A city falling on itself(1)

Three weeks had passed since the brutal execution of Thalys, and the city of Confluendi was a shadow of what it once was. The new garrison commander, a certain Captain Gairos, had been reluctantly thrust into leadership after Thalys' downfall. He stood atop the battlements, his mind heavy with frustration as he surveyed the demoralized remnants of his men. The sight of Thalys being quartered alive had shattered whatever semblance of courage the defenders once had, making them look more like dead men than alive.@@novelbin@@

That fool, Gairos thought to himself, his jaw clenched. If he was going to risk such an idiotic move, he could have at least made sure to kill him, instead I am made to clean after his mess.

Now, Gairos was left to pick up the pieces of a broken garrison, barely holding the wall with soldiers whose minds were plagued with fear. 

He realised there was nothing to clean.

The execution of Thalys had hit Elyra, the widow of the late Lord Odmund, especially hard. She had retreated into a fortress of her own mind, keeping her son, young Lord Cedric, locked away in her chambers. Cedric, was never let outside her room and as a consequence, the time she left too was few.

Elyra's paranoia was suffocating the city's court. Anyone who so much as whispered about surrender, or even hinted at negotiating terms with Alpheo's forces, was executed on the spot. Gairos had already seen several of his men drag away to their deaths.